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Anderson Cowan
Anderson Cowan is a radio engineer working for KROQ-FM in Los Angeles, CA, and has been the main board engineer for Loveline since June 21, 1999. Much more than a simple technician, Cowan is a colorful character in his own right, and frequently chimes in on-air with his own commentary. Besides Loveline, he hosts the internet-only companion show "The Loveline After Disaster" and a separate podcast called "The Film Vault." Anderson's manner is best described as "acerbic," with a dark sense of humor and a frank, albeit coarse, style of commentary. He sometimes expresses his opinion via audio drops (such as the infamous "Rudyroll") or by making sarcastic remarks on-air. Common reasons he chimes in are a caller being extremely stupid or a waste of time, Drew being "boring" (talking about intelligent subjects), and complaining about certain bits being overused. Loveline Career Adam Carolla Era During his early years when Adam Carolla was the host, he spoke on-air very little, but was known for his impressive speed and timing at playing audio drops. Adam would sometimes test him by telling random anecdotes, with Anderson dropping in appropriate sound effects right on cue, without any sort of prep. Despite this admiration, there were hints the two did not get along on Loveline. When Anderson would speak, Adam would frequently berate him, which lead to a known audio drop of "Shut up Anderson! Just shut up and do your stupid buttons!" After a guest show with Carolla one year after his 2005 departure, Cowan described him as "abusive." Stryker Era During the co-hostless time before Stryker joined the show, Anderson began to speak more on-air, particularly when Dr. Drew was alone with no guest. Much of his personality began to show during this time and he openly began expressing his opinions. When Stryker officially became co-host, he continued this practice. Anderson seemed to take a twisted liking to Stryker, often antagonizing him by splicing recordings of his voice or using comments made out of context, and then playing them back at awkward moments. Often the implication of these drops was some allusion to him being homosexual and/or having romantic feelings for Dr. Drew. Most of these were the result of Stryker's tendency to read callers questions or comment on them in the first person. Stryker would frantically deny being gay, which only seemed to encourage Anderson more. For the most part though, they got along and Stryker never got particularly upset, save once: Shortly after Stryker's famous unintentional "outting" of Lindsey Lohan (by asking her how long she and his long-time friend and mentor DJ Samantha Ronson had been "together"), he was talking about the incident when Anderson began dropping in recordings of Drew saying "You're a lesbian." Stryker, who'd gotten some backlash over the incident, angrily shouted "ANDERSON!", then ran out of the studio into Anderson's booth, where he (unheard on-air) berated him and broke his keyboard. They later made amends over this confrontation and Anderson admitted he'd gone a little too far. Psycho Mike Era Behind the Mic Joining Anderson every night in the studio is his dog Stanley, a Jack Russell/chihuahua mix. He has mentioned he considers himself very fortunate to work at a job where he is allowed to have his dog with him. Stanley's name itself is an allusion to two his other great interests: hockey (Stanley Cup) and cinema (Stanley Kubrick). His dog is also a peek into his hidden softer side. Despite his apparent misanthropy, he loves animals and is often extremely offended when a caller alludes to harming an animal. He also has had jobs in the past caring for mentally disabled people, and once a year he leaves Loveline to work as a counselor at a summer camp for children with cancer. He has many tattoos, one of which is a film strip encircling his arm. He also occasionally likes to dye his hair odd colors. Little is known is about his actual background. Comments here and there allude to him being a long-time recreational drug user and drinker (though not an addict per se), having gotten into brawls with people, and that he served prison time at least once. However, in a strange twist, Drew met his parents once, and was astounded by how normal and stable they are.